PG Cert Advancing Human Factors in Health and Social Care

Teesside UniversitySummary: This course will provide you with a broad overview of the discipline of Human Factors and experience of its practical application in your workplace.
Provider: School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University
Location: Middlesbrough, Cleveland
Duration: The course is studied part-time over one academic year
Knowledge/experience needed: Applicants will normally have an honours degree in a relevant subject or equivalent work-based experience. They must be working in a health or social care setting and provide an outline of a viable, HF based change intervention that is agreed by their organisation and is approved by the programme leader prior to admission. Applicants are expected to have some prior knowledge and/or experience of change management, leadership and quality improvement science or a willingness to independently increase their knowledge in these areas before beginning the course.
Email: sohscadmissions@tees.ac.uk
Website: www.tees.ac.uk/postgraduate_courses/Health_&_Social_Care/PgCert_Advancing_Human_Factors_in_Health_and_Social_Care.cfm

Who should attend?
The course is suitable for anyone working in health or social care, including the public, independent and voluntary sectors. It is appropriate for staff from any professional background including staff from clinical, support and corporate services.

Why should you attend?
Individuals wishing to gain an in-depth understanding of Human Factors and practical experience of its application in the workplace to address a healthcare quality, safety or governance issue as part of their everyday role. The course attracts clinicians from a wide variety of specialities as well as commissioning, corporate and support services staff. This provides a rich environment for learning and previous students have achieved significant, sustained, Human Factors based improvements in practice. Successful completion allows students the opportunity to complete MA Advancing Quality Safety and Governance in Health and Social Care.

What will you learn?
You will develop in-depth, specialist knowledge of human factors and gain experience in using this to enhance the quality, safety and governance of care. You will also study improvement science, leading change and a multi-perspective approach to determining and measuring performance and the impact of change.

Expected outcomes
The aim of the programme is to develop critical advocates/leaders of change who can demonstrate the effective use a Human Factors approach to enhance the quality, safety and governance of person-centred outcomes in health and social care.

Course content
The real-world, applied nature of the course is its key feature. This is supported by healthcare provider, service user/carer representatives and professional ergonomist input. You will study two modules which are taught over 14 study days in total, at approximately monthly intervals across an academic year, supported by a virtual online learning platform, peer and tutorial support. The modules are:
1. Using a Human Factors approach to quality improvement in Health and Social Care
This module is designed to enable students to develop an in-depth knowledge of Human Factors principles and strategies which you will then use to identify and undertake a critical appraisal of a safety, quality, or governance issue of relevance to your own role or organisation and provide appropriately justified recommendations to address this issue.
Module content: Human Factors as a discipline, tools and strategies; situation awareness, decision-making, stress and fatigue, cognition and mental load, work environment and ergonomics; Complexity, systems, chaos theory; ethical issues; safety culture; organisational and team-working processes; communication; leadership skills.
Teaching and learning strategies: seminars, lectures, small group work and guided independent study.
Assessment: A 4000 word Human Factors analysis of a student-identified issue from practice and recommendation for change.

2. Leading person-centred quality improvement in Health and Social Care
The module is designed to enable students to enhance the quality, safety or governance of person-centred care through planning and implementing a pre-agreed (with the relevant line manager and academic staff) Human Factors based, change intervention of relevance to their own role and designing a study to evaluate the impact of the change.
Module content: improvement science, tools and techniques; a multi-perspective approach to determining and measuring performance; project design and management; change theory and leading change; audit and evaluation research methods; and research governance and ethics.
Teaching and learning strategies: primarily Action Learning with some lectures and guided independent study
Assessment: Part 1 – poster presentation and defence of the Human Factors based project the student led in practice. Part 2 – critique of the students’ own evaluation study proposal.

PgCert Assessment
1. 4000 word written, Human Factors analysis of an issue from your practice and recommendation for change.
2. Poster presentation and defence of the Human Factors based project you led in practice (this may or may not be based on the recommendation you arrived at in (1).
3. A critique of your evaluation study proposal to evaluate the impact of the Human Factors change project you led in (2).

What’s included?
Course tuition and tutorial support; access to course resources and virtual learning platform; access to ergonomics professionals and academic experts.

Teesside University generates and applies knowledge that contributes to the economic, social and cultural success of students, partners and communities. Through education enriched by research, innovation, and engagement with business and the professions, we transform lives and economies. We are a past THE University of the Year and Queens University Prize winner. School of Health and Social Care (SoHSC) programmes focus on enhancing the quality of care, underpinned by research and partnership working. Our well-established relationships with health and social care services, including involving carers and service users in developing and delivering programmes have been commended. We offer an extensive range of short courses across all health and social care disciplines, developed in response to service needs and often delivered in the workplace. We are renowned for working with employers in accrediting their in-house education and training courses.